“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
This is such a well loved verse and so many of us know it off by heart. Perhaps we’ve heard it and read it so many times that it has lost its punch. Let’s just sit for a minute and let it sink in. Obviously this will resonate with parents for we know how much we love our children, and to offer up a child like this is the biggest sacrifice anyone could ever make, way bigger than giving up one’s own life. Many a parent would give up their life to save their child. I think about Abraham and Isaac and the feelings around this situation. We have a father ready to offer up his most precious love; the feelings are overwhelming. God the Father made this sacrifice for us. Jesus gave up his life, in obedience and love. All for us, so that we could have eternal life with him in the Kingdom.
Holy week is almost upon us. In a bit over a week it will be Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The weeks of Lent are slipping by as we head towards the most important time in the liturgical year, and Christ’s resurrection from the dead. What are we to think? What are we to pray for as the days go by? Perhaps it’s good to keep John 3:16 at the forefront of our thoughts. What we are giving up or sacrificing is such a small thing, chocolate maybe? Cake? But each time we say no to something we’ve decided to give up for Lent, it is an opportunity to cast our minds towards the greatest of all sacrifices ever made, the one that was made on the Cross by our precious Saviour. And let us be filled with gratitude to overflowing that we have a God who loves us so much that he was willing to do this for us, wiping our slate clean and opening his arms up to us, and drawing the whole world to him in a universal embrace. Let’s take some time in our busy lives to truly appreciate, deep down, what this means to us as followers of Christ.
“God you are my God, and I will ever praise you.”
Tell Out My Soul 
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